Bite Me
by Insanely.Good.Liar
Summary: “Be careful what you wish for.” SasuNaru, AU
1. ONE

**BITE ME**

Insanely Good Liar

* * *

**Summary**: Sent to live with his uncle to Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki starts to believe he may be the only human in the village… or is he really?

"Be careful what you wish for." [SasuNaru, AU]

**Me**: HIIIII! SORRY! I'm risking my soul here. I love this story, and how I wrote from the bottom of my heart. it is... so to say; my enigma. It is exactly my fantasy world. It took me years to actually have the courage to post it. Be kind and** read it**! NOW!** Please, give it one shot**, although I've been an evil un-updating author! You won't regret it, I swear!

This is un-beta-ed. _My mother language is not English_. I apologize. If there are mistakes, I want you to actually tell them, especially grammar mistakes... I want to improve myself!

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was suffering something called **Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.**

He lived in a lively area in Tokyo.

He had the most normal family. Mom, Dad and him.

He had a lot of friends.

He was a bit below average at school.

He saw his best friend commit a suicide; in front of his eyes, he jumped down from the school's roof.

His grades suddenly jumped up pretty high.

His friends suddenly seemed like his enemies.

His relationship with his parents worsened.

He was sent to live in Konoha.

And his destiny resolved.

…

ONE

Paw-prints on Mud

…

Uncle Iruka was thirty one, but looked barely in his twenties.

Since I remember myself he always had a long brown hair that went past his shoulders. It was wavy and he always tied it tightly to a high bun. He was wearing a really cool pair of sunglasses, and I found myself thinking why he would wear them. It wasn't sunny that day; a bit cloudy, in fact.

"So… want to tell me what happened?" I knew that question was going to pop sooner or later, but expected it to be latter. We just left _Mito_ on Iruka's car, and I suspected that Iruka had detained himself all the way in the train from Tokyo.

"Not really…" I answered.

He glanced at me before continuing; "You sure? You look like you could use some man-to-man talk. And Minato looked quite worried."

The truth was that Iruka was more worried than dad. Iruka's like a second mom, only manlier and cooler.

"_Konoha_-high is pretty famous in Tokyo. Now that I improved my grades and I'll finish high-school there, I'll have a pretty good shot to get into a really good university."

"Really now…?" I could feel Iruka rolling his eyes behind his black shades.

"Mom said it's for a year."

At this Uncle didn't reply.

The noises of the engine and the wheels on the stone-geared road had distracted away the silence; and it didn't felt as awkward as it supposed to feel.

The car suddenly drove into a bridge. You could see all the way down to the river below. His blue-green color turned into the gray pavement of my school yard.

"--It's just that… we fought…" I blurted out and quickly looked away from below the bridge. "All the time. Even in the mornings… He thinks I'm not the same, but I am the same and I can feel him blaming me…"

"Of course he doesn't blame you." Iruka comforted. "Nobody does."

I was relieved to see we passed the bridge.

Avoiding high places at all costs had became my habit. Even thinking about it was forbidden; Haku's face looked up to me, and his eyes – lacking the iris and the pupil, as if they rolled backwards. And all the blood—

"By the way, I want to say something first." Iruka freed me from the sick images that run through the train of my thoughts.

I spun to him from the view of the beautiful forest. "Hmm?"

"Konoha…" He started but paused, as if unable to find the right words. "Is a small village… but there's a lot of… uh… Let me rephrase that. It might be difficult for you to fit in at first, but I'm sure you'll get along just fine with everybody. After all, you're _like_ us."

I blinked at him.

…………………………………

Saying that Konoha was _small_ was a misinterpretation.

We arrived in late evening, and I got to see Konoha from one of the mountains.

It was built inside a huge valley, surrounded by a range of mountains that isolated the town from the whole world. There weren't many lights; many were spread across the valley but in small groups and sometimes alone. By the far end there was a group of lights, and I somewhat suspected it was the school.

The ride to Iruka's house was dark. There were barely streetlights guiding the way. The vegetation looked savage and I saw fields of grass if I squinted my eyes to see out in the dark.

Iruka's house didn't look new.

There was a three-meter fence of old red bricks. Its color turned darker and they were filled with cracks and mold and small vegetation like climber-planets. A lone streetlight was guarding the black-metallic gate.

At first, I wanted to ask what Iruka was protecting himself from, but soon I shook it off.

Within the fence stood a nice, Japanese-style country house and huge dark trees shielding the house - front and back.

It wasn't as big as I expected it to be - I was waiting for a palace; but it had only three stories, if counting the attic. Why should I complain? I lived in an apartment building in Tokyo.

The lights were on, and when I lifted one of the bags, strolling down the luggage with the wheels, I followed Iruka in the little stone road. He was carrying my huge sports-bag with one hand. I always knew Iruka was always a bit stronger than he looked, but this was ridicules! I could barely lift that thing with both of my hands.

He opened the door, dropping the keys on the stand and leaving his shoes in the entrance. I followed suit, since I was regular to modern houses when you undo your shoes in your room.

"Kakashi…!" He yelled a bit angrily. I winced at the name. I should've known he would be there but it hadn't occurred to me at first.

Kakashi was… Iruka's so-said-friend. He would come to all the family parties or memorials and funerals with Iruka, and act like a part of the family. Not that my family minded, they all loved him with his carefree, smiling nature. And I did too; for me he was Uncle Kakashi that sneaked me candies from the appetizer tables.

Only when I was sixteen I started to suspect the real definition of the 'friends' Iruka claimed them to be. This had cleared all doubt out of my mind.

"Welcome back. I expected you in the afternoon." Kakashi greeted, taking the bag from Iruka and putting it down for the meanwhile.

"Hay, Kiddo."

"Hi, Uncle Kakashi." He hugged me briefly, and it occurred to me that I didn't saw him huge Iruka ever. Weird couple.

"Had a nice trip?"

"Yeah."

"Did he bug you with questions?"

I laughed, dragging my luggage inside and I was about to close the door after myself when I noticed something standing before the gate. It looked like a human being, but it was standing weirdly. Even when the light on him, I could only figure out his hand which held the gates bars. His head was cocked to the side.

"What do you see…?" Kakashi's voice was so low, it vibrated in my ear. The thing disappeared when I blinked.

I felt like I was in some kind of trance.

I closed the door, feeling a headache coming out. "There was…"

"Hay, Come up and chose a room!" Iruka yelled from upstairs.

"Okay!"

…………………………………

I picked the green room with the Tatami-mat.

I actually (really) wanted the blue room, but it looked like it had been used as a study because of the books and the small used futon. I didn't really want to the two of them to change their life for me. It was only for a year, and then, I'll be back to Tokyo.

I stuffed all my clothes inside the closet, leaving only the suitcase with the wheels outside.

It was pretty late when I came down. Kakashi was drinking beer while watching some show with Japanese idols running around and jumping up and down in it. He gave me some cookies and ruffled my hair. I tried looking displeased at his parental behavior but I was starving.

"If Iruka asks, you saw no beer, and had no cookies before bed," he warned.

"Got it," I replied with a smile. "Where is Iruka?" I asked, suddenly aware of his absence.

"He likes to get up early."

"Sounds like him."

"He's just like a fussy housewife. Don't mind him. He'll start by cleaning the house until everything will be shiny and then he'll go to the garden. After that he'll make breakfast, wake me and you up by telling us it's already late when it's nine o'clock. But not before going to get some groceries from the store." I laughed. I had adored Kakashi since a young age. He had a silver hair and an eye-patch on his left eye. I called him Uncle Pirate when I was small, because he looked like one.

If you asked him what happened to his eye (and I did, a few times), he would always say the same; 'In 1921, there was a big lab explosion and it made me lose my eye'. Never mind the fact that even if he were born in 1921 he would be at least 87. And he looks like… 25. If you ask him how can that be, he would answer that the explosion may have took his eye but it also made him immortal.

I nodded yawning.

"I think I'll go to sleep." I changed subject.

"Alright. Let me show you where the clean sheets are."

…………………………………

Morning came too fast, and when I felt slight shaking, I groaned, trying to remain in the sweet dream world. Just like Kakashi said, Iruka had waked me up.

Breakfast was pancakes. They were sweet and tasty, and I have came to a conclusion that if that's going to be my breakfast everyday, I don't really mind staying here as long as the parents wanted.

I heard from father that Iruka's cooking was good, but I didn't expect it to be that good. Mom's cooking looked unprofessional compared to him.

Iruka took me with him to the grocery-shop. At first, I wanted to grab onto something solid (like Kakashi, for example) and hold it for dear life, but after he dragged me out of the house, I changed my mind.

The sun just got up and the old dark trees looked green now. There was a small vegetable garden in the other side of the pavement where the car stood.

The black gate had hided a field of green wheat that just started to grow.

The road was rocky and muddy, and everything was wet. Iruka walked behind me, a pleased smile on his face as I ran around admiring the beauty of enormous amounts of flowers and weird colorful trees.

Blue ones, pink ones, red ones and even purple.

Everything seemed so vibrant, like another world from the gray Tokyo.

While we walked past the little grove, I noticed a river flowing right in the midst of Konoha, blinding with his shining blue waters.

"Jeez, it's like heaven!" I commented, hearing Iruka laughing in the background.

"Come on, here's the shop."

The shop was quite big. Like Iruka's house, it was surrounded by a tall fence, only it was built out of dark wood.

Instead of a house there was a whole residence inside. The door on the wooden-wall was opened. There were no sign and no indication it was a store whatsoever, and I was worried that Iruka might have mistook the place.

He went in and I followed suit, feeling like we're trespassing.

There was a little Japanese traditional yard and on the grass rested three huge dogs; a brown one, a gray one and a white one. The white one was largest of the group. They cuddled together cutely (well, as cutely as three enormous dogs can cuddle), and the gray one lifted a sleepy head to stare at us.

I felt the sudden urge to escape while yelling. I tugged at Iruka's shirt.

"Tsume!" He called. "You home?"

There was silence, and the dog put his head back onto his paws. Suddenly one of the doors banged opened, and a woman walked out; she had brown messy hair and looked quite daring. Her eyes shifted from me to Uncle and then she grinned. "Iruka! Aren't you late, for today?"

"Sorry," He hugged my shoulders. "Had to make him a proper breakfast. That's my nephew; Naruto Uzumaki."

I smiled carefully.

She picked up an empty can that was lying on the floor and jogged it from hand to hand.

"So… think that you're ready to handle _Konoha_-high?" she laughed heartedly. Even tough she seemed to have boobs, she talked like a man, and walked like a man, and looked strong as a man.

"My Kiba wasn't ready for it, and now look what happened to him!" She continued, and with a sudden burst, she crumbled the can, and threw it on one of the doors. "Wake up, you ungrateful son! It's past nine o'clock you lazy dog!"

I winced, hiding behind Iruka, as she went past us and opened the big black door that stood in front of us.

There was a girl sitting there, she looked younger, in her twenties. She was reading a fashion magazine. She hid it as the woman came inside. "Hana! why do I have to get up and see that you and that ungrateful brat hadn't yet opened the store?" She yelled.

"Sorry, Ma. Kiba won't wake up."

Then there was a strangled baby cry. "Tsk. I'm coming, love!" She replied to the cries and wails.

"Now treat some customers."

She pushed Iruka inside while smiling. "Come in, come in."

From the minute the young lady saw Iruka her eyes lightened up and she sat up straight fixing her blouse. She offered the best smile she could and asked; "What can I do for you today, Iruka?"

"Ummm… Give me one kilo of rice… and…"

I looked around the store as Iruka ordered things. It was an old store and it smelled like candies. As if he entered another century. Everything was on wooden desks or shelves. No refrigerators what so ever.

"Can I help you?" She asked suddenly as I examined the kinds of spices that filled plastic white bags; like in the market.

"Do you want something, Naruto?"

"Umm… no. Not really. Well, you could always buy me ramen."

Iruka nodded. "And two cups of ramen please."

"Pork and Chicken." I added, smiling.

Hana looked a bit displeased at the fact that Iruka knew me, and I guessed she had a crush on him for a long time, if she made that face. "Okay."

She was about to go inside to retrieve something when she stumbled upon a half-naked teen. He was as tall as me, brown messy hair, and green eyes. Over all, he looked exactly like the lady that just left; but his hair was a bit curlier. The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt soon distracted me from his face.

His muscles were beautiful, almost as if they were painted; not real.

"Watch where you're going, little bro…"

"So-r-r-y…" He yawned. "Morning Sensei."

"Morning." Iruka ruffled his hair. "I thought you and Shino are going to Mito for the weekend…"

The guy's gazed diverted to me. He stared at me, as if I'm a prey. I rolled my eyes away from him. "Something occurred…" He took himself a bottle of mineral water from one of the shelves and opened it. "Who's the new kid?"

"Oh. That's Naruto. He's my nephew. He'll probably be in your class."

I felt obligated to say something. "Hi." I couldn't bring myself to give him a smile.

"Hi." He replied just as coldly.

Hana came back a second after with a bag of rice. And the guy retreated into the curtains in one of the doorways that led inside the house.

I took the rice and when Iruka tried to say I should give him the heavy things; I immediately told him that he's too old for that.

He smacked me, and I laughed.

…………………………………

Kakashi was still fixing my computer when it was already nightfall.

He had tried (_with too much effort_, if you ask me) doing it for hours alone. And every time I asked to help he would say he didn't need help.

Only when Iruka was walking next to the door of my room and opened it suddenly I saw that Kakashi was sitting and reading some orange book.

"That book again! If I see it one more time, again, I will throw it away! Give it to me!"

"No, no, no. I'm sorry."

"Give it to me; I'm confiscating it until you fix the child a network."

"I'll be good, just don't take it away."

"Give it to me NOW."

"But I'll have it after dinner."

"If you behave." With that and the orange book in his hand, Iruka left.

I sniggered.

"Shut up, brat, and help me out."

It took us exactly seventeen minutes for the whole process.

Dinner was really tasty and soon after I wanted to do nothing but to crush on my futon and sleep like a dead man. I was about to say good night when Iruka signaled me to help him with the dishes.

"I know you're not a kid anymore and you can handle yourself… but this is not Tokyo. School is tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be home and when Kakashi will be home… Never mind that; you must never go out after nightfall."

"Why?"

"Because…" Iruka looked back at the living room door for a second before continuing; "Look." He stopped washing the dishes but left the water running. He put his wet hands on my shoulders. "There are creatures here… creatures that you never imagine that exist…"

"Iruka, you're freaking me out…"

"I know. But please, promise you won't get out when it's after sunset."

"Alright! Alright! What kind of creatures? Wolfs? Bears?"

"What are you talking about…?" we both jumped and looked at Kakashi cocking his head at us.

"Nothing, nothing…" Iruka laughed, and I opened my mouth to say something but Uncle cut into my words; "Oh look! I wetted you!"

I gaped unbelievingly for a minute, watching Iruka washing the dishes while humming.

"I'm going to sleep." I glanced at Kakashi as I stomped away from Iruka and upstairs, who followed me with his only eye up the stairs.

"Night!" I yelled after myself

"Good Night, Naru. Don't let the bed-bugs bite!"

The sliding door had slid with rattling sounds behind me as I walked into the door.

I plopped down onto the futon, sighing.

It was completely dark and quiet. I could hear quiet murmurs from downstairs.

Wonder what they're talking about… Certainly there's something going on between them. Maybe they had a fight? What if Kakashi was holding him prisoner here? What if Iruka was in danger and nobody ever noticed? No. No way.

A blinking had distracted me from my thoughts. I looked up at the window and saw a blinking light.

I got up to see what's wrong with the streetlight.

It stood there in the midst of the darkness, observing the gate. On it, leaned a figure. It was wearing a trench coat and underneath it a simple sweatshirt with its hood up. The figure seemed to watch the gate before it looked up to meet my eyes.

I flinched.

The light hit his eyes as if there was a cat inside the hood. Yet instead of the white-blinking reflection it should be; it reflected a red light.

I lowered my head a bit, because I couldn't explain the way his freaky eyes stared at me. As soon as I did it, He pushed his body from the pole of the streetlight and walked a few careful steps toward me.

My breath stopped.

The light wasn't hitting his eyes that much, but he still scared me. Yet, I couldn't look away.

Was it the same shadow that stood next to the gate the day I arrived?

No, it was taller, leaner. It had a whole another presence. A strong presence. His face seemed pale beneath the hood.

He had dark, dark eyes.

The figure turned sharply to the right. Before I could realize what was happening a huge white dog was standing before it. Scratch the word 'huge' -- the thing was bigger than the brick wall! It growled, and I could feel the window rattle from its growl.

With a blink of eye, they were gone.

I stood there; hand on the window, gaping like a fish on shore. My throat felt dry and I blinked a few times. I rubbed my eyes.

Did I just imagine it? I tried rubbing my eyes again.

What the hell is wrong with me? Should I be worried? Do I need medical help?

I waited till my heart stopped beating fast, but it never came. That was the last straw. I lost my mind.

"What are you saying?!"

It was Iruka's voice from downstairs.

I blinked, and tried to listen. "I didn't bring him here to feed him to the dogs!" He said more quietly but still furiously.

I slid cautiously the door open.

"Sooner or later, he'll find out, Iruka." Kakashi's voice was calmer.

"Well, let's just hope it's later."

"What if he'll want to go to the mall with friends? He's seventeen, do you actually expect him to—"

"I don't know… I… with Fugaku gone and no one to lead their clan…"

"Oh come on, why would they… They won't get close to this house because I'm here…"

"And if you're not?"

"Iruka…" There was a sigh and a growl and the tone said that Iruka was exaggerating.

"What was Minato thinking… what if... something happens to him… I'll die from worry…"

"Don't worry. I think he already made a friend."

And who would that be…?

I felt suddenly distressed. Iruka almost never stayed at our place more than a month. He was always smiling and it was safe to lean on him and talk to him about troubles. But he was not my father, he couldn't deal with me. He and Kakashi didn't even want me here.

Over more, if they knew I'm some kind of a sociopath that sees things like huge dogs, they would surely send me back.

And now, for some reason, I don't want to go.

…………………………………

The vampire stared at his companion, before looking down.

"What had your brother said?" The other vampire asked, as he followed him down. He caught his prey by the neck.

The prey hissed, scratching his strong hand away. But Sasuke exposed his teeth and crushed the neck until he held the lifeless thing inside a closed fist around his neck. Blood exploded and spilled, dirtying the young vampire's white shirt.

"Jeez," The older vampire laughed. Sasuke threw the limp thing to the ground and licked his hand. "Always so violent and dirty! If Itachi saw that-"

"He will not tell me what to do."

The older vampire stilled; "He will be our leader, Sasuke."

"He'll stay my older brother, nothing more. I will do what I want."

the older one sighed, watching the thing turn into dust; only the dirty forest floor; dead leaves mixed with blood and earth left. He followed the young teen in between the trees.

"So what had he said?"

"Shisui, if you want to know, ask him yourself."

"Alright." He paused, looking for a new topic. "By the way; we looked for you yesterday and you weren't in your room."

The vampire turned around to his companion. "Yes," he said, "I went to talk to Kakashi."

Shisui sighed for what seemed to be the tenth time this morning. "Don't interfere with that half-blood, Sasuke."

"He is my Uncle. As he a part of our elders. Treat him with respect." The younger one looked ahead for a second before catching one more creature. He examined the new prey as it wriggled in his hand and threw it away, towards the older vampire's direction.

Shisui smiled back, murmuring a small 'thanks' before sinking his teeth into the prey. Watching it, bore Sasuke soon enough and he started walking again. Not long after, his brother's best friend caught up to him again.

"Well, and what did you talk to him about?"

"I didn't."

"But you just said-"

"Yeah, I waited him out but that dumb Inuzuka…" the vampire spat at the forest floor. "He attacked me all of the sudden, as if protecting… Because I saw _that_…"

"_That_?"

"Probably his human. His human was… blond."

"Blond? You confuse me."

"He was special… his human."

"What are you saying? Werewolf blood is yucky!" The older vampire playfully stuck his tongue out.

"Never mind." Sasuke caught himself a new prey. He sniffed it, liking the smell of a pure 'B'-negative.

Not many B-negative were left in the hunting area, but it was like a dessert to his meal. He kept the small demon and turned around. "I'm going to School."

"Change your clothes first. If Itachi sees how you're roaming in his garden he'll-"

Sasuke rolled his eyes before disappearing.

…………………………………

I stepped out of the gate, inhaling as much fresh morning air as I could.

My lungs fluttered with joy. I sighed deeply and looked back at Iruka and Kakashi that still argued who will drive the car. I was going to school on this lovely Monday morning and I was up and about just before I could blink the sleep off my eyes.

The breakfast in my stomach though, wasn't as thrilled as I was. It gurgled unhappily to reply my thoughts; I pitied it and rubbed it. Kakashi had waked up before Iruka and I had to witness the disaster that is 'Kakashi-breakfast'.

To avoid further stomach problems and survive; note to self – never eat breakfast if it's made by Kakashi.

I started walking forward their direction, but the memory of the huge wolf and the man came up on my mind and I looked back at the streetlight.

I sighed heavily, but then I noticed it… It was a huge paw-print.

I immediately stopped and turned to it, examining it. It looked almost unreal. When I looked down, I saw that I was standing in another one. I followed them and noticed they led away from the muddy wet road into the meadow.

"Naruto…!" Iruka called, but I was absorbed into knowing whereas I was insane or not. I sat in the car, waited until Kakashi (who won their verbal argument, so it seems.) stirred the car and got off from the parking lot of the house.

The road was rocky. "I think I saw something yesterday." I descended upon them.

"What, love?" Iruka asked from inside his bag, where he looked for something. "You know where the registration files? Maybe we forgot them…" Iruka murmured to Kakashi. "No, you took them off the stand, I remember…" Kakashi replied.

I continued; "Uh… There was a man… waiting by the gate."

At this Iruka stopped whatever he was doing and turned to me. "What man?"

"I don't know… but that's not the important thing… He was standing there, and then he noticed me… It was really freaky. And then this giant dog… or wolf… had appeared and it growled and then they both disappeared…!" I ended dramatically.

"You sure you weren't dreaming?"

"Yeah, because I could hear you two still arguing."

"We haven't argued!" Iruka laughed.

"We just disagreed." Kakashi agreed. "What did the werewolf look like…?"

"Werewolf? You mean-"

"No, no, no… Not a werewolf, Kakashi meant to say a wolf…" Iruka hit him hard. Either they already think I'm nuts, either they're hiding something from me.

"He was white… with brown paws… he looked a bit like…"

Kakashi murmured something before spinning the car to the left.

I could see bits of civilization: a street with a lot of buildings that ended with a big green building; Now that we're talking about color, all the building looked the same and had the same wooden entrance.

"This is the campus…" Iruka averted my focus on the outside. "Pretty isn't it?"

"What, all of it?"

"Yes. You might get lost at first, but don't worry you'll get used to it."

"Not might. I most definitely will. Don't expect me home early today."

Kakashi chuckled. "Don't worry, Iruka won't let you starve to death here. His parental instincts never fail."

"Jesus, are you implying I'm acting like a woman?" Uncle hit him again.

This past two days, more and more I noticed they were acting like brothers rather than a gay couple. Maybe I was wrong and they were really good friends?

Why would they live together then?

…………………………………

School was huge. I knew it was one of the best in the country but rarely someone passed the exam. When I sent the applications for new high-school, I expected to get into Namikaze-high. It was in Tokyo and was counted very prestigious and people who graduated from there were politicians, doctors or lawyers.

Truthfully saying, I didn't know what he wanted to do in the future. Tokyo – just wasn't my place. I might have been a bit popular at school, but never belonged there; always, treated as a stranger.

The only one close to me was Haku.

Well, that's until he met Zabuza.

I traced my finger on the newly looking chairs. They were speechlessly clean. As if by a spell even the corners were cleaned. It was so neat in the office, almost unbelievingly.

Iruka left me here and went to the teacher lounge, saying that first the director will have a word with me. I looked at the black-haired secretary, which was staring back at me. She looked away quickly as if caught, continuing with her paperwork.

"Tsunade will be with you in a minute or so…" she trailed off, fixing her gaze at a pile of files. "Uzumaki… Naruto. Right?"

"Yes." I quickly answered. "How did you-"

"You look exactly like him." She put her head on her hand, sighing slightly. "Your father." She completed.

"Oh." Laughing, I scratched my head. "That's right. Dad used to live here before."

"You could say that again." She uttered rudely. I blinked at her. "Your father was a rare find… School's 'hunk', so to say…"

"Really? That's… disturbing."

She laughed heartedly. "It was weird for everyone…" She said in a quieter tone.

I understood she wasn't going to end her sentence, since she went back to her files. "What was?" I urged, curious at my father's younger years.

To me, it always seemed like between us were nothing but a walls and fences of glass. He would never talk about Konoha no matter how much I asked. Konoha was like his forgotten, sad past. His childhood was something he dodged to talk about. Finding out about it seemed weird, now. Especially not from him.

"Oh, you know… that he picked your mother." She flattered her hand, getting out some sheets from her dossier.

"Why's that?" I defensively spoke.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the door of the office slammed open. A blond woman with huge boobs (and I mean enormous!) walked in.

"You must be the new student. Come, I'll give you a quick welcome interlocution."

I nodded, and followed her to her room.

'The Principal's Office' was said in big bold white words on the door. It was smaller compared to the waiting room.

It contained a desk, a big red chair and a few smaller ones in the other side of the wooden desk. Her laptop was closed, and a few plants were scattered in the corners and on her desk, including a photo, that was turned away from the visitors.

The planets were non-flower evergreens; expect one; that had small, white, barely noticeable flowers.

"Herbs." She said. "They help cleaning the environment."

I nodded, smiling and trying not to look nervous. She seemed like fierce and strong woman, that mustn't be pissed off. My tongue always led me to wrong directions. I hoped to control it at least this time. "Well, Naruto. Welcome to Konoha-high. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. Any question can be addressed to the teachers; we are a family here…" She said quickly and yawned. "Not that it matters, right? You're Iruka's nephew."

I nodded again.

"Not mute, right?"

"No, I can talk just fine-" should I add a 'miss', 'madam' maybe?

"Good. Here's your schedule. Books will be sent tomorrow. Have a nice day."

"Uh. Thanks."

"Run along." She waved her hand at me. I walked out of her cabinet slowly; a bit disappointed at the way I was treated. "Old hag…" I murmured when I closed the door, shaking off my angry feeling. No need to get upset over nothing in my first day at school.

I heard something breaking in her office and slipped away before finding out she actually heard me. What I don't know, won't hurt, me or her.

The secretary blinked at me.

…………………………………

A flood of bodies made it hard to get to my first class.

Students were rushing everywhere. To my right and to my left, to the north or to the south. I got confused where I was and where I should go.

I stopped and was about to ask for direction when I noticed _him_.

It was the same gray hoodie, I could tell. He was the one standing by the streetlight, yesterday. On the hoodie was the school's blazer, which meant that he was no vision of mine.

As I guessed his face was pale. Midnight-colored bangs showing and contrasting the color of his face. His eyes though, were covered with a pair of black sunglasses.

He was looking down, not noticing his surroundings. I started walking, not really wanting to attract any attention to me.

The chatter and noise were loud, yet I couldn't deny the sound of his steps coming closer to me. The closer he got to me, the slower I walked. Was he real? My mind was racing with all kind of thoughts. I wanted to avoid him, but there were too many people. And everybody was talking. The annoying buzz had croaked in my ears and I wanted to cover my ears. But instead of silence, I could hear my heart pulsing.

It was quick and weird, his shoulder barely pressed mine, and he was a complete stranger to me, yet I turned around to look after him – and he did the same.

His lips parted, husky yet thin, surprised; astonished. I don't know how long did we stand there, doing nothing but gaping like two fishes in one aquarium. The chattering never stopped, the people were still flooding the hallway and the planet kept on spinning around the sun, but I froze.

Somebody pushed him out of the way, and I blinked, as if waking up from a trance. I turned back, cursing myself for being a complete and utter dork. It was embarrassing, and the guy probably thought I was some kind of a freak.

Wait, he's the freak, not me!

I did nothing bad. I saw him… being… an _undead_ or something near my house. Meeting up with a werewolf. Reasonable enough, isn't it?

Somebody should take me to a psychotherapist.

…………………………………

I arrived a bit late to my class, since in the end the direction I was walking in was the opposite.

I knocked softly on the wooden door and opened it.

"Ah, Naru! You were assigned to my class?"

I was a bit relieved to hear Kakashi's voice, and yet a bit embarrassed at the choice of his words. I don't need the 'teacher's-pet' stigma sticking to me. I nodded solemnly, and he nodded back, smiling. "Come in, come in!" He ordered. I took a big sigh and walked in, standing next to his table while he wrote my name on the board.

It felt humiliating. This was high-school, not junior-high. I wanted to smack Kakashi with something sharp and run the fuck away.

"So, we'll be having a new student from now on. Introduce yourself." Kakashi put a hand on my shoulder and reassuring me.

Being nice is important in this situation, I thought to myself. Smiling, I tried not to be too polite; "Nice to meet you," _Ah, my voice gave me away._ "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

All the curious glances and the glares at the board turned into mild chattering. I wonder what triggered it my name or my smile.

"Now, now…" Kakashi lazily calmed them down. "Where would you sit…" He muttered, putting a finger on his lips as if considering. Not the window. Oh god, please not the window!

"Oh no, Inuzuka, bad-news! There's a free seat next to you!"

Gah, don't tell me it's that rude guy from the shop! Why this is just keeps getting better? The said guy groaned, rolling his eyes. Well, at least it's further away from the window, I'll give him that.

"Why don't you show him around, while you're at it?" Kakashi suggested.

He clicked his tongue, "Why can't Ino show him around? She's the class rep."

"What was that? Did I just hear you patronizing on me?"

He growled, looking away from Kakashi.

Great, just great. I sighed to myself, looking to the bright day outside as I walked to my seat.

The class was smaller than I expected and barely consisted of 20 seats. Three of which were free from people. Kiba was sitting at the middle, the selection that was marked as the 'normal'-people area by my book. Front desks were all occupied by dorks. And at the end of the class, the delinquents and-

Oh, lord, did I left a 'strangle-me!' message on your voice-mail? Mr. undead-fiendish-eyes were sitting there, glaring at me. Without the glasses, his eyes were in a deep shade of onyx; black like the pitch; calm like the sea before a storm, as if completing his flawless uniqueness. He looked straight at me, as if daring me to do something. He made an eye-contact and I immediately looked away, sitting down as quickly as I could to ease my infamy.

I sighed in relief, although I could still sense the fact that he was aiming an arrow at my head.

Kakashi babbled most of the period about grades and school activities, leaving a snide remark here and there. Just like every normal home-room class should be.

The bell ringed before I could even regain the 10 percentage of courage and pride I had lost during my introduction. I was about to stood up when the rude guy held my hand. "We have literature, that's Kakashi's class."

"Oh…" His kind act made me feel suspicious, yet I decided to smile and nod. "Thanks."

"Hmm." He stared at me, as if pondering out loud. "Don't mention it."

I felt rather shocked that he replied. I was expecting some shoulder-shrug or a short nod.

"So, you're Kakashi's nephew?" He continued.

"No, I'm Iruka's nephew." Wow, I thought, he's rather talkative.

"Oh. You smell more like Kakashi…"

"I… smell…?"

He immediately beamed at me, sending rays of 'I-didn't-mean-it' light. I looked back at the board, to see Kakashi already writing the subject on the board, after he erased my name.

………………………………….

"…I don't know. You want me to go with you? I'm just not that hungry. My mom made pork in the morning…" he shook his head.

"Your mom is kind of freaky." I leaned on my desk.

Just saved by the bell from Kakashi's promised home-work, everybody were either packing bags either chattering with friends already. Through out the lesson Kiba turned out to be quite the guy, although the bad beginning we had.

"You're telling me?" he laughed. "I fucking live with her! And she wonders why dad left…" he rolled his eyes. "Not that my dad was any better."

"That bad? My mom is a slave and my dad's a tyrant."

He blinked, and sat up straight as if I suddenly peaked his interest; "Your mom… she's alive?"

"Hmm… of course, she-"

Cutting off into my words, _that guy_ passed by me, brushing my legs with his green-school-pants. His intense side-way glare took me a bit in surprise. Like puke, questions rushed down my throat, but never saw light. Instead, I noticed his dark-pink lips; a bit thin yet completely and so utterly… What was it about him that made me so attracted? I stared after him; his lean back, his manly figure, the way those ugly pants hugged his ass.

"Don't worry about him." Kiba averted my gaze and thoughts. "He's just trying to pick a fight."

"Delinquent?" I asked quickly.

"His daddy used to own the area…"

"What, a mafia or something…?"

Kiba laughed in reply; "something like that… only… their clan… is the protector of our country." Kiba watched the door from which the guy left.

"Huh?"

"Hay, we should go to the cafeteria, or else we'll be late."

…………………………………

Overall, the first day at school was quite successful.

I _sort of_ made a friend.

And with my supreme ninja skills, I succeeded to avoid Mr. undead.

Highlight: Kiba patting on my back and saying I'm not as bad as I look.

Yet, a downfall: the girls at _Konoha_-high worship Mr. undead. Somebody should tell them that guy is hanging out with a werewolf… and has glimmering snake-eyes…

Although Iruka finished his classes, he waited for me in the car by my class-building. I smiled when he honked me and ran to him. He grinned and patted the front seat.

"Where's Kakashi?" I asked, while trying to secure myself with the belt.

"He has a few more classes to teach, and then he's going to… visit relatives."

"Eh? He has relatives in Konoha? I never knew that."

"Of course, Kakashi grow up and was born here, just like me and your father."

"Then doesn't it mean that we also have relatives here?"

"Nah, you know grandma was a foreigner…" Iruka sighed and added; "and for some reason only your dad got her looks."

I grinned; "And me."

"Anyway, my father's family and Minato's father family… they both didn't want to have anything to do with her… you know, back then, it was a disgrace."

"Really? So you don't know your grandparents from your father's side?"

"Nope. I just know they died early in the 80th. We visited their grave once too. Don't recall much of it though."

"I wonder what happened to my grand-grandparents."

"I think they're both still alive actually. There's an Uzumaki Household in the far-east of the valley."

"Oh man! Do you think they know I was born? Can I visit them?"

"I'd rather you not." Iruka's tone turned chilly and serious suddenly. I stopped my enthusiasm and waited for him to explain. "They were always known for being… very vicious."

"Vicious?"

"Well, yes. From what Minato told me; Namikaze, your grandfather, had forced grandma to merry him through blackmail. They had a very miserable life together… When he died, his parents blamed your grandma for everything… and practically disowned her and took every possession that was hers in their marriage… Well, Minato too had married into…"

"Hmm? I know mom's submissive."

Iruka smiled when he waited for the metallic gate of our house to open. He parked in rather silently, and only when he got out he asked what I wanted to dinner.

Dinner was home-made noodles.

It was so tasty my stomach growled in happiness when it was over. I volunteered helping with the dishes, as soon as everything was off the table, I started drying the ones Iruka already cleaned.

In much ways, I found Iruka like me. We both were talkative and friendly, and I guess that's why even a talk on weather or something trivial like water seemed interesting to me.

It was already late evening and the sun was probably down. Kakashi had entered through the front door, yawning. "I'm home!" he announced. "Mmm! Smells delicious!"

"Yeah, well! There's nothing left for you." Iruka commented and I snickered beside him.

"Wha? I came home from a hard day and that's what I get; 'no dinner'?"

"Didn't you eat at Itachi's?"

"But… I smell noodles… I can always have space for noodles!" He put his head on Iruka's shoulder.

"Stupid!" Uncle – utterly saying – _blushed_(and I'm being shocked because I never saw him blushing, ever!) and smacked him with a wet plate; "Not in front of-" they both glanced at me. I looked at the ceiling and started whistling.

I guess they were kind of gay, after all.

"I'll go… do my bag for tomorrow…!" I blurted and ran upstairs.

Embarrassing uncles.

* * *

_Etto... to be continued...?_

Things you might want to know:

Mito - a city in Japan, it's near the sea... (I think) and is known for its beautiful gardens.

The story would be mostly written in Naruto's POV. there will be parts in which he won't be present and those parts will be written in general POV.

Over all, I have to say this: **This story has been deleted, rewritten, corrected, re-read about a thousand times, fixed, and copied. I put all the stress of my last year of high-school in here. More than anything in the world, I hope, wish for you, dearest reader to simply_ review. _**

Thank you for reading and stay tuned!**_  
_**


	2. TWO

**BITE ME**

Insanely Good Liar

* * *

**Author Rambling: **I think this chapter is the worst of the bunch. I mainly wrote it to introduce Sasuke as a character. He's cold, though not completely unemotional. He's not used to humans and what more is that he finds Naruto fascinating. Developing Sasuke in this plot will be very hard, because he doesn't open up like other people do to the mighty powers of Naruto's charm. He _is Sasuke_, after all. But gradually you'll find him changing. Since people who have something to protect (Naru-chan, for example) are different from people who have nothing to protect.

Read and enjoy, humans.

* * *

TWO

Prophesy

...

If you walk till the end of the pavement in the yard, you will get into a thicket.

It took me some time to pass it, but once I did (With only two and a half scratches, mind you.) I found a garden. The dark trees and big bushes had shielded most of the light and created a cupola; until only small ray patterns had danced on the floor of the garden.

It was big, and took almost all the backside of the house. I noticed the back door from the storage-room led here, and sighed; because apparently, I had a few scratches for nothing.

There was a small bench next to a column of purple flowers that ended in some kind of exotic plant I never saw before. I sat down, sighing.

It was beautiful. I had wondered what all that seemingly unoccupied place at the back of the house was for. I looked up at the copula and saw that there was a thin aluminum net that had kept the copula in shape; probably Iruka's work. I knew those planted exotic flowers were exactly his taste.

Wondering, I looked up and silently closed my eyes to the sight of the rustling leaves. The wind blew soft gusts on my body.

A small noise made me jerk up. I heard loud clattering and rustling as if there was someone in the bushes. I looked around, but there was nothing from where I heard the sound. I felt a shiver coming up my spine. Did I imagine it?

Before I could regain my alertness, something connected to the exact spot between my shoulder blades. It gently went down, and as quickly as it came it left.

I jerked away, yet landed on the floor as if someone pushed me down.

Fuck. That was really scary.

I stood up, still looking around, and brushed some dirt off my jeans. Jeez, I'm never coming here again.

I rushed inside the house.

……………………………

My next few days at school weren't as exciting as I hoped them to be.

More and more people disappeared from school. Everyday the class would turn into smaller and smaller groups. Sometimes people will return but others will be absent. It made a whole new impossible level to befriending. Some would send me glances around school, but Kiba told it was just because I'm new. Kiba was the only one who changed more than three words with me. Truth to be said; the guy was weird. He liked dogs a lot; therefore it was a constant topic of conversation with him. He would tell me stories about his great friends but when I would ask about them I would be gifted with a simple shrug of shoulders. He would know all kind of gossip, which I doubted were true anyhow, with no certain aim. But what was the most extroverting thing about him was his nature. In Tokyo, stereotypes were rare because each individual had tried to show-off with his uniqueness, but Kiba – he was the perfect stereotype of Wild-guy; _Partying was his thing, motorcycles and sports were fun, meat was the best food in the world_, even the way he wore his uniform; everything from his half-curly, messy hair to the way he wouldn't stop cursing.

Mr. Undead showed up once for class-room, further than that I barely saw him. Avoiding him was an easy task; I never saw him in school.

Today was the last day at school and the start of the weekend. It's funny how a week at school passed and I already felt boredom washing over me. But it was good in its own way: now that many of my anxieties – like being alone or not settling in quite well – faded, it seemed to me that my road has cleared up from all the stupid things my mind was preoccupied while in Tokyo. Maybe the country-side _did have_ a good effect on me.

I sighed deeply and heard my exhale echo in the empty hallway. Many of our classes were far away from each other and students from every class were divided to learn in smaller groups; so the teacher would suffice a lot more material. The only subjects I had with Kiba were Math, Anatomy, literature and History. This was the first time I had chemistry, and although it was a big school, Kiba directions were quite good; "Third floor, Lab number 532, can't miss it, a huge purple door at the end of the hallway."

I rolled my eyes and looked outside of the window.

It was almost an afternoon, and probably Iruka already drove home. It means I'll have to go home with Kiba, because I have no idea which way my house is.

I noticed a girl waiting for somebody at the entrance of the building. I saw only her back – her long brown hair… I blinked when I noticed she was wearing a boys uniform – and moreover, not our uniform but the uniform of my old school.

Chill went down my spin and I stopped walking and stared. My breath hitched and I held the front of my school jacket, scared to let go.

Why was he here? Why? Why was I seeing him now? Why did I look out of the window? I know I _should_ stay away from windows. I know I should _stay away_ from windows. Windows—

He turned around.

My body shook and I felt my hands grip tightly onto my shirt. I felt as if I was still at my bed, dreaming, dreaming… about to wake up from a swirl of nightmares.

This can't be real. He can't be real.

My body tensed and my heartbeats fastened.

As if he noticed me, he grinned and waved. His eyes – black like an abyss. Haku - he was sending me a messege from hell.

"Hay." Something blocked the window, and as if released from a spell, I stumbled down.

I blinked a few times, adjusting to reality. What I saw before me was a pair of black boots. I took in a few deep breathes and looked up to see Mr. undead with a frown on his fiendish face.

If his eyes were glowing red and he was going to eat me right now, I wouldn't be surprised. Hack, better by his hand than Haku's.

A cloud of cynicism washed over me. Mr. undead is stalking me by my window (so what if it happened once? It was still weird. And he clearly didn't fled when he noticed me), glaring at me, and catching me in the most dumbest moment ever.

I stood up, groaning. Not that he even offered a hand to help, he just stood there watching me, and then he turned around at the window to see what I was so paralyzed by.

Haku wasn't there anymore, but I felt my head crack uneasily as an after-effect. Although it wasn't the first time this happened, it sure did felt like a first time. Relief washed over me for the fact that it was over so quick – one time I was found in the Janitor's room, sweating like shit and mumbling, I was even hospitalized a few times because I couldn't regain consciousness.

Instead of actually remembering bad memories, I looked at Mr. undead. He sure looked at his best; a black buttoned shirt and on it the school blazer. It made him look like he walked out of some magazine. Without the hood his hair looked perfect. It was styled with much taste, mind you, and looked like it was done by professionals. Probably because it wasn't sunny today - I snickered with my thoughts - had he allowed himself to come without hood and glasses.

"What is it…?" I rudely asked; since he was the one to tell me 'hay' and not even helping me up. He turned back to me, his frown dissipating into complete blankness.

"Nothing," his voice was surprisingly arousing; smooth and rich. A bit like butterfly kisses down somebody's back. "It just sounded like you were having an orgasm with all those gasps and pants." He added rather quickly.

A load of curses and threats and very vivid descriptions of how I'm going to crucify his evil body rushed down my throat like warm puke. Along with the feeling of being oddly embarrassed.

Instead, I calmed myself down, smiled and said; "_Bite me_." That would suit his fiendish presence, now wouldn't it? I turned around and walked to my class.

He hadn't followed, and only moved when I already entered the class.

There were seven people sitting and chattering among themselves. Only a girl named Hinata from my home-class nodded my way; I smiled back and she quickly turned to her friends.

When I sat down, Mr. undead opened the door.

A few of the girls squealed, and he pointedly ignored them. His stare locked on me and he marched to my desk, putting his bag next to mine.

Could this day be worse?

I looked away from him, my fury building up inside of me like a cage of zombie-monkeys. Why was he being an asshole? We don't even know each other. There were a lot of other vacant seats. He clearly was trying to piss me off, now I'm sure of it.

"Hay."

I turned to him, about to snap; but he preceded me.

"_Be careful what you wish for_."

Never have I seen a beautiful man. Men were… simply men. Sometimes I would find individuals that my eye caught and admit to myself they were handsome… but never beautiful. Yet, Mr. undead wasn't handsome. He was _nearly_ beautiful. His beauty wasn't girlish but manly; so manly that one smirk had almost took my breath away.

"Fuck off." I mumbled, almost hitting myself for gapping like a fish. I hid my face from him, biting my lip.

That was the last I talked to him, and he too, hadn't told me a thing afterwards – although I caught him staring at me a few times.

I felt like I should panic, since he clearly was calculating what side of my head he was going to take bite of. I already imagined him having a few receipts on how to cook a rude-teenager. 'Coconut-like crispy head delicate' or 'Brains coated in sugar filled with vanilla cream'.

When the lesson finally ended, I marched out of the room, and to the ground floor. I peeked into the half-empty class only to be horrified by the fact that Kiba left without me.

That's it. Silent-Panic mode; on!

First Haku, now being hunted by a brain-hungry Mr. undead… what else? If the werewolf will appear in the entrance I wouldn't be surprised. I would just accept my death.

Okay… Calm down, Naruto. I noticed the bastard coming from the direction of the stairs and regained my calm unaffected face.

It looked horrible, but it really wasn't that bad. I have my phone with me.

Calling Iruka to get me would work perfectly. I nodded to myself and pressed 3 on the speed-dial.

It paused for a moment and then I was directed voice response.

You have got to be shitting me.

"Hay."

"Stop 'hay'ing me, will you?" I snapped at him, redialing Iruka's number.

"You live with Kakashi, right?" he looked unfazed by my retort.

Most would refer to him by 'sensei' or 'Hatake-sensei'. Kakashi himself had made sure I was calling him properly and not too casually; something about _treating all the students equally_. He would be the first one except me who would say Kakashi so bluntly. It immediately quirked my interest but the fact that I have no way to get back home made me push it away into the 'to ask' list.

Iruka's phone number was redirected again to the voice response.

I nodded, feeling the tips of redemption. "Why? Are you going there?" I stared at him while dialing Kakashi's number.

Now, he seemed a bit taken aback at my response. "Yes. I was about-"

'_Hai, hai_!' I heard Kakashi's cheery voice, turned around from a quite shocked Mr. undead and yelled into the cell-phone: "dammit, Kakashi, I'm stuck at school, come and get me-"

'_That's right; you've dialed to Kakashi's phone! Unfortunately, I can't answer right now… it might have something to do with Iruka-sensei_…_leave a message after the beep!'_ I stared at the phone.

"Don't know the way home, huh?" the zombie said behind me; I could almost _feel_ a silver of smugness in his voice.

……………………………

I kept three meters between us.

Call me a suspicious retarded moron, but this guy… there was something off about him.

There was no sun, light gray clouds covering all the sky till the horizon. It was warm though, and he was enjoying the weather.

Truthfully saying, he had a great build. He had a very muscular back, yet a thin waist, and a… nice ass.

We're both man, I know. But he happens to have the right ass to fit the uniform trousers that look like sweatpants on Kiba.

All I ever meant to say was that his ass has a nice, somewhat curly shape. Nothing more!

I wanted to bang my head on some wall. What the hell was wrong with me? Looking away from him I wondered how _my ass_ looked in those puke green trousers; probably baggy like hell.

They didn't look so good on Kiba. They looked like used sweatpants. Not that Kiba cared; he loosely hanged the tie around his neck so it would be in his style; saying that he wore the tie and they should be thankful for that.

This guy… he wore his tie neatly yet on top of some designer black buttoned shirt. It was like they both knew how to bend the rules of the school to their look.

I sighed.

He glanced at me, and I saw he was smirking slightly. Well, fuck him and his nice ass! I furrowed my eyebrows at him. Wishing he would stumble upon some rock and die a horrid death.

"We're almost here," He started, without looking at me.

"Yes, I can see my house." I countered, glaring at his nape.

"Then why are you walking so slowly?"

I looked away and mumbled a; "can't turn my back at you… might eat me…"

Although it was barely a whisper, he heard me quite well; "I don't think you'll taste that good… actually." He retorted.

I was genuinely surprised by the fact that he heard me – but what more by the way he said it. It sounded as if he was being serious.

"You see, you're short,"

I gasped at his insult.

"—hot –tempered,"

"I am not!" I tried to be more convincing, but it was hard when he was so far away from me.

"—and seriously fucked up."

"God-dammit! You're way more fucked up than me!"

"Maybe… but I don't go moaning while looking out of the window."

"That's not my fault! I get panic attacks! Ever heard of Acrophobia?!"

"Fear of heights isn't expressed like that. You probably saw something… didn't you?"

I opened my mouth a few times and then closed it. "None of your business…"

I never thought it would disturb me so much to talk about it. The psychotherapist in Tokyo had never touched the subject of what I saw when I looked down. He just wrote down 'Acrophobia caused by Post-traumatic stress disorder' along with other things as nervous break-down and personality change. Maybe somebody at my age would understand my troubles better. That sent my thoughts about if Mr. undead was really my age.

He halted to a stop next to the gate of my house, and I pushed him a bit with my shoulder as I walked inside.

When I was about to open the door, I noticed that he didn't came in. I turned around. "Well?"

He made a face and I spun around and walked to him; "Why aren't you coming in?"

"I wasn't invited."

There were black bars separating between us, but I saw his eyes tingle with redness. His gaze wasn't angry but it was intense; my brain was sending alert signals to my organs, but my will refused to listen to the fact that I was scared. I hadn't felt even the slightest pin of fear. "Then, come-"

"Don't." He quickly cut me off. "For your own safety."

"But you said you won't eat me."

"Naruto! Is that you?" Iruka's worried voice called over my shoulder and I turned around smiling. "Thank god! I thought you were kidnapped!" Iruka ran to hug me. I laughed. "Oh please!"

"Jesus, don't ever do that again! You know how worried I was! I even sent that lazy ass to look for you! Why haven't you called?"

"I called; your phone and Kakashi's were off…"

"No, they weren't! I tried calling you from two o'clock!"

"I guess it malfunctioned then…" I took out my phone from my pocket. "I think we should check it."

"Let's get in, it's chilly here… we need to call Kakashi... Jesus, we looked for you everywhere! " Iruka ruffled my hair affectingly and looked to the sides. "Hay, wait- He wanted…" I turned around but the zombie was gone.

I turned back at Iruka that already raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you ask Kiba or something…? The guy didn't even wait for me… I bet he forgot-"

"Actually Kiba called home just a while ago to invite you to his house tomorrow. He said that somebody told him you already went home."

I beamed; "Really?"

……………………………

Kiba's room was completely messy. There were clothes on the floor, the bed, falling out of the stuffed closet. If they were dirty or not was not the question in line, because the room smelled like barbeque.

He had a 22inch TV which was plugged into an old Xbox with a few Pokemon-stickers. It was paused in some shooter game, showing high-scores. He had a few posters on his dark-red walls with hard rock bands. He had a chest of drawers, on which on top of it were a lot of photos.

"Is that your dad?" I asked while he started trying to clean some space on the bed for us to sit. He looked up, and came closer to see what I'm talking about.

The picture had the woman that I saw the other day while we came with Iruka, holding a small child that looked like a twin version of Kiba only much smaller in her hands. Probably his mom, to her left stood Hana, his sister, next to her; a smaller girl that beamed at the camera. At the other side of the woman stood Kiba, a bit taller like the man beside him, he was ruffling the hair of another kid that looked approximately ten. The man and his mother looked almost identical and it was freaky.

"Nah, that's my uncle. My dad's… a fucking retarded. He's dead to me anyway."

"Oh. Sorry…" I cursed my-self for my stupidity.

"That's ma, Hana and that's my little brother, Kawa."

"He looks just like you, only smaller."

Kiba snickered while pointing the next ones. "Mimi and Shippo are both Uncle Manako's kids. His wife died recently… so don't ask about it while in dinner. You're staying for dinner, right? Since you just came here."

"Yeah."

"Great!" Kiba started picking another pile of clothes; "Sorry for the mess," he grinned while a sock fall down from the little mountain of clothes he gathered next to the closet. "Two of my friends stayed the night and they really don't mind the mess, so I didn't bother cleaning."

"I don't mind the mess either." I replied. "My room's no better."

Kiba looked at the second pile in his hands and just dropped it. "Cool."

"Is that them?" I turned back to the pictures and he nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to introduce you actually… but they really needed to go somewhere…" he crushed on the floor, next to the Xbox.

In the picture were four teen. Kiba was hanging on the neck of the tallest of them; the guy had sunglasses and million layers of clothing on him although Kiba was wearing a simple undershirt. Next to them stood a chubby guy with a bag of chips and another guy that had a pony-tail, he looked so troubled standing there – as if the camera was assaulting him.

"Shino's… well… I don't really know where he is. He's my best buddy… but he sometimes just disappears… and Chouji and Shikamaru are either too busy to go to school, or too lazy."

I laughed; "Busy doing what?"

"patrolling." He simply said, and it looked like he hasn't given it much thought. "Shikamaru was away for a few years, and Chouji accompanies him… Everybody's so busy with the preparation, it's almost stressing me down."

"Preparation for what?" I sat down next to him.

"For the Big Winter." He answered.

"The Big Winter? What's that? Sounds like an event."

Kiba sighed. "You really came from outside, huh?" I nodded; "Of course, from Tokyo."

"Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha recently… _died_." He started and seemed to be hesitating for his choice of words. "I heard that name before… I think Iruka said it…"

"Yeah… remember the guy that bothered you."

"Who? Mr. Undead?"

Kiba laughed heartedly. "An ironically fitting name." he commented before continuing; "Remember I told you that his dad used to own the area?"

"Yeah."

"Well. Now he's dead. And once our country-"

"Are we still talking about Japan? You kind of lost me."

Kiba rubbed his chin. "Konoha is… well… never mind that! Let's just say once the protector dies… comes a period when there's no leader in Konoha… that's called the Big Winter… why big? Because this happens once in every… I don't know… at least a thousand years-"

"Does this means Fugaku lived that long?" I cut in. He growled as a retort, and I quieted to let him continue; "and when it does… different groups fight for the right to rule over the area."

"Kiba." I patted his shoulder, sniggering at his serious face. "I have to tell you. This sounds completely fictional."

"Well, welcome to Konoha, my friend."

"Kiba!" The Inuzuka's mother barged in without knocking. "I heard you have a friend- Ah! I knew you'll become friends with him! He's so cute!"

"Ma! Could you please leave?"

He face turned a bit offended and he sighed, regretting his words. But then she slapped his back and made him choke onto air. "Dinner's ready!"

……………………………

In the end, after dinner we played 'Left 4 Dead' till eleven; I wasn't aware of the time until Hana came in and said that Iruka came to take me home.

I felt a bit like a kid, but after what I pulled yesterday, I guess, Iruka won't be able to forget it for quite a while.

Kiba was… really fun to hang out with. He was really warm even if he looked rude and unfriendly on his exterior. I could never shake off the things he told about Konoha earlier, even while in car with Iruka.

"So…" Iruka urged, breaking my line of thought. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! Did you ever saw his little brother? He looks exactly like him!"

"It's common in their clan."

"Clan, huh?"

Iruka glanced at me from behind the wheel, still smiling, as if asking me for more details. I couldn't help but wonder if what Kiba said was true. After Mr. undead who, I now doubted, was real. It was like a reality check. I saw him with a huge animal. Then he goes off and scares me with the things that come out of his mouth… and now I can't even stop thinking about him.

"Uncle… is there really something like 'The Big Winter'?"

Iruka parked the car as I asked it, and stopped whatever he was doing when I asked it. He wore a twisted, worried look on his face as if he's going to explode.

"Who… who told you about it?"

"I can't believe it!"

Iruka sighed and went out of the car hurriedly, locking the gate after himself.

At home Kakashi greeted me by ruffling my hair but was soon distracted by the fact that Iruka locked the door and looked like he's having a small nervous breakdown.

"What's wrong?" he immediately said.

"He found out!" Iruka down the corridor to the phone, was about to pick it up, but regretted after a second a stalked from one side of the corridor to another.

"About what?" Kakashi's question was completely calm, but didn't have any effect on Iruka.

I decided to retort for Iruka. "About _the Big Winter_ whatever it is. Why are you making such a big deal out of it, anyway?"

Kakashi too looked taken aback.

For once, at least I understood why Kiba said he was stressed out from it.

"Don't worry, Kiddo, Iruka is just being fussy." Kakashi reassured. But for some reason that hadn't soothed me at all. Uncle had finally taken the phone into his hands and started dialing. He clamped it to his ear and tapped his foot on the floor.

"Hi. Sorry I'm calling so late… No, he's fine."

"Is that dad?" I asked Kakashi and he confirmed my suspicion by nodding. "Wait, wait!" Iruka continued; "don't panic, alright? Yes, I know. He found out- I don't know how much! Alright! Can't you just come here? Wait," Iruka handed me the phone; "he wants to speak to you."

I took the phone hesitatingly. Is dad angry with me again? What did I do?

"Hello?" I asked because there was complete silence on the line.

"Hi, baby." Dad hadn't called me baby for a year or so; it surprised me and I felt like a kid again. I yearned to go home suddenly, to hug him and mom and beg for forgiveness for everything I said or done.

"Hi, dad…"

"I'll come visit you next weekend, okay?"

"Okay."

He sighed very deeply, and sounded more cheerful; "So, how's school?"

"It's really nice… I already made a friend."

"Really? And how is he?"

"Umm… His name is Kiba Inuzuka… he's really fun and easy going… and… he's a bit of a delinquent."

"Just like his mother…" dad laughed, and I smiled, and even though he couldn't see it, I expected him to know that I'm smiling. "Do you know her, dad?"

Making up with him was never so easy. It almost left a bitter taste of something that will soon come.

……………………………

When I woke up, I felt deliriously happy.

I stood up smiling, and rubbed my eyes as I walked to my closet. From the window I could see it was about to rain any minute, tough the ground seemed yet to be wetted.

I took off my pajamas and tossed it randomly in air, wearing my jeans and a shirt. I opened the window and took in a few breathes. The air felt fresh and a bit mold – but it made my heart flutter as soon as it hit my lungs. But not only had the air made my heart flutter.

It wasn't sunny, but bright enough for me to see his onyx cold glare. His trench coat was covering an opened shirt that revealed bit of his pale chest. a pair of cargo pants suited his legs. He looked good.

I wondered how long he stood there, waiting for me to wake up. Had he even waited for me?

Took me seconds to get down-stairs and grab my coat. Rather than staying with Kakashi and Iruka, I needed someone else; someone else _to talk_ to.

When I closed the door after myself I didn't see him at the gate. I saw a glimpse of him when he turned behind the walls of the fence, and followed suit, struggling my coat on.

When I turned the corner after him, I saw his shadow inside a small trail that led into the forest.

The forest wasn't so thick, yet it seemed intimidating – but it hadn't budged me. I knew there was a small forest behind the house, yet never visited it. Looking back now, I barely went outside if not school; the forest was no exception… if it were Tokyo, I bet I'd be so bored at home, I would already know how to get around the whole neighborhood. But it wasn't Tokyo, and I didn't know the way home. Hesitating – but only slightly – I ran after him.

The trees were long and dark-barked; almost black. The sun hadn't penetrated through and it started looking murkier than it did a second ago. The floor of dry leaves crunched below my feet noisily. When I understood I lost sight of him I stopped and looked around. He couldn't be far away.

I saw him walking between trees – and disappearing behind a large barked tree. I understood at once that he was leading me off the trail; but fear was the last thing on my mind.

"Hay, wait!" I yelled, and jumped over some mossy rock. When I turned behind the tree I saw him at, there was completely nothing but more trees. I sighed and spun around, but before I could let the disappointment overcome – looking up, I saw him leaning on another tree right in front of me.

I yelped, clamping a hand on my heart. "Don't just pop out!"

As an answer, he smirked, pushing himself off the tree and turning his back to me. His hand danced on the black bark of the tree he leaned on, as he circled it. I followed him stubbornly, but he wasn't there once I lost sight of him behind the tree. How can you even do that? It's like he's disappearing to thin air. I looked around again. This time, the tips of his black clothing fluttered through some thicket. As I passed it, covered with cobwebs, I found myself in a clearing.

He stood in the midst of it and above him, in the sky, assembled a group of dark-dark gray storm clouds. The grass in the clearing seemed soft and long; vibrant green against all the darkness in the sky. "Why are you following me, human?" He seemed amused, and it ticked me off.

"Why are you standing outside my window and freaking me out?" I retorted.

"Fair enough."

"What… what's your name?" I wanted to continue the conversation, because Mr. undead surely didn't seemed the kind to talk a lot.

"Uchiha Sasuke." How Suiting. It was like he _was born_ for that name.

"I'm Naruto."

"Funny human. I didn't ask for your name…" I rubbed the back of my head and looked around. Rude bitch. He looked at me from up to down before turning to me with his back. "Come, I'll show you something."

……………………………

I followed the sounds of his steps and the grazes of his trench coat.

He was hard to trail. He was swift and his reflexes were better than mine. He would snap his head at every rustle of leaves – which was a lot.

I did not remembered for how long I followed him. Inside the forest, when there was nothing but him for what looked like eternity, time flew. I could feel the tips of my fingers tingling with lost minutes. As if years passed by me and their fragrances stayed shimmering.

Expect him there was complete stillness and silence. He became my everything; with him in my field of view I hadn't felt lost or scared.

When we arrived another clearing, he slowed down.

It wasn't a big clearing at all, since most of it was taken by the huge tree that grew in the middle of it. It looked old and his roots penetrated everywhere nearby. His leaves were dark, but for some reason it seemed to almost lit the surrounding. The sky still announced on a scary storm, but the tree sent waves of warmness and lightness around it.

A small bird fountain stood in a small path of earth and short grass, between the dark roots of the tree. It was colored deep, deep gray; cracks and dirt covered it from up to down. Since it was a bit dark, the water inside of it seemed pitch-black.

"My secret place."

At his words, I glanced at him. "What makes it secret?"

"I used to sneak here when I was younger." He briefly explained before walking to the tree and caressing its bark. I watched him do it with unsaid fascination. The more time I spend with him, the weirder he gets. And I thought seeing ghosts was weird. Why the girls in school did even liked him? He was a total dork.

I walked around, enjoying the view of the long branches and the dark leaves, until I came near the bird-bath. "Is that a place where you bring all your girlfriends and make them feel special?" I stared at my reflection; I seemed so bright over the darkness of the water.

"Does it make you feel special?" He voice was close behind me and I suddenly felt threatened, spun like a rocket clenching onto the fountain. He looked quite pleased, and it, yet again, somehow pissed me off.

"You know, right now we're in my yard."

"Oh. So… we're neighbors."

"You can say that." He continued walking until he met a root that burst from the ground, and sat on it. I sighed deeply, looking back at the fountain. In the water I had a bright orange aura and the branches and leaves above me on the tree, rustled and swayed in the wind. I blinked when I noticed figures inside the leaves and branches, as if people were sitting there and hiding from me.

Suddenly the zombie-guy's face appeared in the other side at the other side of the circle of water. He was watching me intently, and started closing up distance between our heads. I looked up quickly; "What are you-" He was indeed standing in the other side of the bird-bath, but he was quite far away from me, unlike our reflections in the water. When I looked back at the bowl – I noticed the distance between us changed.

"What do you see?" He quickly asked me.

"Myself." I rolled my eyes. "And what is it with this water? Why is it so dark?" I dipped my finger inside and the liquid seemed viscous. When I drew my finger out, I saw that it coated my finger with somewhat thick dark brown liquid.

"What is this?" I asked, as it rolled from my finger back into the bird-bath. Although the traces of it barely stayed on my finger, it felt as if I just touched a puddle of blood.

"Blood." He answered me. It felt like he was reading me from my facial expression _without even trying_.

"Are you shitting me?"

He chuckled. "It's magical fountain. In its waters you can see the future. Some see their whole life in it… others' destiny is hidden from them."

"I barely saw something."

"Really?" He spun suddenly to his right. "Your uncle is looking for you."

I stared at him. Is he really human? I should get scared from his actions but nothing he says is alarming and he doesn't seem to intimidate me.

I nodded slowly, and he nodded back but none of us moved. His eyes seemed more relaxed, at that moment. Maybe they're just deep brown and when met with light they blink with redness? But rather brown – they seemed dark, dark blue, matching his midnight colored hair.

"Are you dead?" I blurted out, unable to help but wonder if he really is some undead creature. A zombie… or a vampire.

I earned another chuckle from him. "No, I'm not dead." He coaxed as he grabbed my hand and put it on his chest.

I could feel steady, rhythm of a lonely heart. His chest rose a bit, and then sunk a bit as if dancing to his heart's beat.

"Sasuke… Naruto? What are you doing here?" We both turned to the thicket we came from. Kakashi blinked strangely from Sasuke to me. I quickly hauled my hand from Sasuke's grip, which was tad loose. It made me a bit disappointed to find him as alerted as me about the situation.

His face was in a frown.

"I just went for a small trip and met Sasuke." I explained.

"And what was _Sasuke_ doing near our house?" The question was directed to Sasuke, but I answered for him. "We're neighbors, so it's natural I'd meet him, right Sasuke?"

_Sasuke_ glared at me, but I beamed at Kakashi. "Is that so?"

"I need to talk to you." His pale body leaned to a slight bow. It seemed very graceful, as if he was talking to someone superior than him.

Kakashi nodded. "I'll just get the troubled teenager kid home."

"kid?" I grumbled. Kakashi stretched his hand for me and as soon as I took it, he clenched onto my shoulders, as if making sure I'm real and safe.

I looked up to see the expression on his face, but he was staring at Sasuke.

"Wait here…" Kakashi commended. He turned me around, his grip on my shoulders still very strong, and started walking. A few steps forwards and I couldn't help myself but look back.

Sasuke was standing next to the bird-bath, his head slightly bowed. Mr. undead looked up at me, and once again I saw the small twinkling-red glimpse. At a certain angle, it just seemed like his eyes were red. They were back to a deep onyx once our eyes met.

I didn't know if I should wave as a goodbye, so I tore my gaze from him back into the thicket me and Kakashi stepped into.

Once inside the forest and out of Sasuke's sight, Kakashi's grip loosened. I wanted to understand what he was feeling that moment, but searching for his gaze was tough. He would stare blankly ahead of us.

"You okay?" He suddenly asked.

"I'm fine." I sighed deeply, and stepped over a log, before I could question him about the behavior, he cut me off; "He didn't do anything to you?"

"No. Why would he do anything? I know he's a delinquent… but he's alright. I guess."

"You shouldn't go out without telling us where you go, you know. Iruka will freak."

I nodded. "Sorry, sorry."

"Tell him you just got lost… okay? Or else he'll bother me about it forever."

I paused for a second, watching Kakashi making his way on the forest path. "Alright." I finally said, but it still felt suspicious to me.

……………………………

Somewhere near noon it rained.

Well, technically… it poured.

The roads immediately turned into mud and huge puddles appeared in minutes near the house. In addition, on the sideway of the road, a stream flowed, overflowing the vegetation.

It was so dark, Iruka had to turn on the lights in the house. I wanted to get ready for a storm, but there was barely wind; only darkness and rain.

It was warmer in the blue room since there was a small heating machine. The royal-blue colored walls were calming and the right side of the room was covered with wooden shelves with hundreds of books on them. I did like this room the best; it just seemed cozy.

Kakashi came back after an hour or so, just in time before the rain started. He didn't say a thing about where he was and that he was with Sasuke so I didn't mention anything to Iruka – although I had to endure a small lecture by myself. Damn Kakashi with his sneaky ways… I bet he delayed on purpose.

I sat by the window, the sound of Kakashi's typing on his laptop lolling me to sleep when Iruka came in with hot muffins.

He left soon after saying; "Oh! My garden!" and I could see him in his red rain-coat in the garden, trying to protect the poor plants from the rain.

I giggled at his attempts at shielding it with his body.

"Naruto."

"Hmm?" I turned to Kakashi.

"What did Sasuke talked with you about?"

I stood up. "Nothing really… He just wanted to show me his tree."

"Why?" Kakashi turned to me from his computer. I rimmed through the books, sighing about the way I'm being investigated.

"How should I know?"

"Is that really all?"

"Yes! Jesus! I don't understand what's wrong… I know he's a tiny bit weird…"

Kakashi cut me off with a small sigh. "That's not what I'm talking about that…" I reverted my attention back to the books, not knowing if to be angry with the fact there's something he's not telling me or with the fact that I'm treated like a virgin religious girl that can't get out of the house without parents' approval.

'Spirit, body and mind' was the thickest book on the shelves. I wanted to take it out but I noticed more interesting titles like; 'Japanese myths' and from there; 'The art of Blood Sucking'.

Who knew Kakashi had such a vast interest range? I smiled upon the last book, but then I noticed a purple covered book right next to it. Golden words spelled the phrase; 'Reading the future'.

My thoughts hurried to get me back to the tree and to the bird-bath beside it; to _his words_ as if he chanted them inside my mind. '_It's magical fountain. In its waters you can see the future_.' He said.

I took out the book, stroking its cover.

The cover was as simple as there is. It was purple, contained the author's name and beneath it in golden font 'Reading the Future'.

"Can I borrow this?"

Kakashi didn't even peeked at what I was holding and shook his hand to the sides, signaling his approval.

"Thanks!" I smiled and exited the room to the coldness of the hallway.

……………………………

My room was colder and yet I snuggled into the covers and sighed blissfully.

I creased the hard cover of the book in my hands before opening it. It was a bit rough and textured. The first thing my eyes landed one after the introduction was Table of Contents

There was plam-reading, tea-cup-reading, reading by runes or stones and even reading by wax. One before the last subject was 'Reading by Water'.

I opened the said page. There was a brief explanation saying that reading by water can come in two ways, like a sudden vision _or_ from a source of water that is known to have such abilities(i.e. _magical fountain_, thank you very much Sasuke.).

Afterwards there was a list of simple words or phrases like birds that you might've seen in your reflection and their meaning.

The first word to come up from a set of very basic words such as 'Apple' and 'Arms' – was 'Aura'. Certainly I saw an aura over at the bird-bath.

The orange colored Aura meant; "Uplifting and absorbing personality. Inspiring. A sign of power to come." I read out loud. It meant nothing to me whatsoever.

I flipped through the pages until the word 'creatures' came up; "If the creatures are hiding inside trees or in a rocky landscape, it means that a big storm is coming your way. Whether friends or foes, hidden as they may be, their meaning is of to warn you from a huge responsibility and trouble… Huh?" I frowned deeply at the paper.

Next I looked for the fact that Sasuke appeared there. 'Face' soon came up. This category didn't include much. 'Face of a stranger', 'face of a friend', 'face of a family member' or 'face of lover'.

Since I didn't quite knew Sasuke I decided to read stranger but it said 'somebody that you might cross paths with in the future.'

I already met Sasuke, so I decided to label Sasuke as a friend; "If your friend is frowning – his anger will cause you troubles. If he's smiling – your friendship will become a great asset to you. If he's trying to kiss you – might it be… that you're feeling something else for your friend?"

I bristled.

"What the hell…? Nothing useful at all." I tossed the book aside and cuddled into my sheets, nuzzling my pillow. Little did I knew, that Sasuke was never my friend to begin with.

* * *

_Well, well, well..._

Next time: Papa Minato is coming. And Naruto's about to find out...--!

Anywayz, thank you for the long wait. (which wasn't long, considering my breaks). I apologize for the language, my mother tongue is not English, I try my best without a Beta in order to give you a story that will improve himself with time.

If you liked the story, hated it, or even have a mixed opinion on it -** I would love to hear anything you have to say**. A review is very important to an author, so please be kind with me.

Stay tuned! **Thank you for reading!**


	3. THREE

**BITE ME**

Insanely Good Liar

* * *

So sorry for the long wait! I'm not dead yet! :)

This chapter was 'beta'ed by the lovely Cheerful-Passimist. She deserves a hug.

**Just for the record**: I've been recruited to the army! How exciting is that? :P Yes, in my country girls gets recruited too. No, I'm not making this up. I might not be able to update as fast as I used to - but be positive, your long wait is over. :D

* * *

THREE

Beauty of Thoughts

I was never one to make rush decisions.

The only rush decisions I ever made were ones I was obligated to make by a large group of people. Peer-pressure, if you may. When those decisions came to my hands like an unwanted present, usually I had already mused about their possibility and came with a retort.

This was nothing of the sort.

Kiba was staring intently at me, as one should after asking a semi-important question. "Well?" He urged.

"Will you skip with me or no?"

I blinked at him and concentrated. Most of the teachers can ask Iruka of my absent… But will they, really? One student off their class won't make the world turn into dust. On the other hand, I _will_ get lectured. All I have to do is negotiate with Kakashi – new book over silence; After all, Iruka was teaching History to lower grades; so he was easy to avoid at school.

"I don't know, man." My reply actually meant; '_please convince me to do so_' and Kiba always could take a hint. "Oh, come on. Just this once. We're buddies, right? I don't want to go alone. It's just for a class or two and then I'll even walk you home. I already talked to Iruka about it." He winked at the last part, grinning.

He had a strange set of teeth, this guy. Some of them looked like canines. Especially the fangs; they were longer and a tad curvier than the rest of his teeth. I tried not to get distracted. "Iruka _said yes_?"

"Well," Kiba rubbed his cheek. "He said that it's fine if you want to go home with me by walking."

I laughed, packing my lunch back into my bag. "Alright, I'll go." I stood up. "But if we get caught…!" I left the threat unsaid, and after a few minutes whilst walking around the campus, I understood that I must've sounded exactly like Iruka.

……………………………

Within the walls of school and outside of them, the vampire only acknowledged one person as his friend.

The _white-bred_ were known for their telepathic powers, and that was exactly the reason the young vampire chose to isolate himself. He sat in a balcony on an abandoned floor, enjoying the lack of sun. It was his first Long Winter and so far, so good.

"I could sense you buildings away, you know."

He sighed at the voice and turned to his friend. "Clearly there's more up than your brother's nomination as the next leader." He added.

The vampire hummed in reply, turning back to watch the murky sky.

The psychic continued, trying to catch what was going inside the other's mind carefully; "I think that mutt and his friends want to oppose him… they are going to choose the Nara."

The other nodded absently, looking down at his trousers and straightening some caresses. Although it looked like the most normal interaction you can have with the vampire when he's in a passive mood, the psychic could sniff the truth.

"You don't care at all, do you?"

"Of course, I do."

"I don't think so. You're clearly thinking about something else."

"Itachi won't be a good leader, they all know it."

"But _we_ stick to the plan, Sasuke." There was something strict in his friend's voice.

The vampire lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before exhaling all the smoke into the window. "I understand why humans get addicted to this shit… it has its own exhilaration to it." Sasuke glanced at the face of the long haired man, before taking another drag.

That glance was long enough for the other to rummage through the mind of the Uchiha.

"Who is he…? That blond."

"Neji!" the young vampire bristled, glaring at the psychic.

At this his friend smirked. "My, my…" he started; turning his back at Sasuke, long black hair spiraling after his body. "I guess a change of plans won't be so bad."

"Whatever you're thinking—"

The Psychic headed to the door, waving his hand. "I'll see you later."

……………………………

By coming to school on this sorrowful Monday, sitting in the car and enduring my uncles' fight and quarrel about who hasn't taken out the garbage, even as I walked in a steady yet fast pace to the classroom – I had hoped to open the door and to see him sitting in his dark corner.

I imagined it at least three times in head. The first time, before I fall asleep, I imagined him immediately smirking at my arrival, and in a gust of boldness I would walk to his seat and we would talk until Kakashi would come in. I quickly dismissed it, and imagined it more realistically as me walking into class, and him being very passive about it, simply nodding my way.

The third time was at breakfast, I was so disturbed with the fact that he won't even blink my way because _he's such a fiendish asshole_, that I missed my mouth and stabbed a fork with pancakes on it into my cheek.

The truth was that Sasuke Uchiha wasn't even there. He hadn't showed up to class at all. And even if he did showed up to later classes, I won't be there to see his reaction because Kiba dragged me to skip class.

I just wanted to see where we are standing.

Am I a friend to him? Or we're still complete strangers?

"Hay, don't daze off! You need to be alert!"

"Sorry," I sighed, watching Kiba turning a corner. He was acting like he was in one of these James Bond films, holding his hands up with an imaginary pistol. I followed suit, swinging my bag back onto my shoulder.

I wanted to ask about Sasuke but Kiba bumped into me on the way back. His body fidgeted and he whispered quickly; "Abort! Abort mission!" He clenched onto my shoulders, shaking me in panic.

"What is it?" I asked, looking behind him. A tall guy and a beautiful girl were walking down the road to building Number 6. "Jesus, don't freak me out! They're just students."

"You don't understand!" Kiba whispered, "That's Neji-fucking-Hyuuga-" He made the first step to escape—

"Well, well, well… Inuzuka."

Tapping with a stick on Kiba's head, stood the same guy from the road. I blinked looking behind him. The girl was standing with arms crossed over her big chest. How did he get from there to here in such a short time, became a sudden mystery to me.

Kiba sulked and turned to him, glaring. "Not ditching, now are you?" he continued.

My friend and fellow classmate seemed to do everything but not to catch the face of this new guy.

He looked perfect. He had a long black hair, which looked like warm silk. It shone and fluttered like waves in the sea. A clean, pitch waterfall of strands.

He had a peach-colored skin and his structure was very manly, and somewhat reminded Sasuke's sharp features. But he made the two of us, me and Kiba, feel inferior with only one smirk on his pink lips.

But it was his eyes that attracted me the most, they were silver. A pale gray color. I thought he was blind for a second there, but his eyes shifted from Kiba to me.

I looked back at Kiba. He was always fast to retort, but he just stood there quietly.

"Hmmm? A new playmate? And I thought I finally got you alone all to myself."

Rolling his eyes, Kiba crossed his arms on his chest.

"Should I let you go and inform to the teacher or would you like to go by yourself?" he asked, playing with his stick.

"Won't you get in trouble too? After all, you're clearly not late for class." I glanced at the girl, whose first shirt buttons, now I noticed, were opened.

"You're new, aren't you?" He smiled at me, even though I scoffed back. He didn't mean to insult, I almost felt him just being friendly. His eyes studied mine. "I'm Hyuuga Neji, Student Council president." He offered his hand.

That exact same moment, I wanted to bury myself.

I already dug out my own grave; why not bury myself in it?

I shook it, feeling my adrenalin jumping up pretty high. "Uzumaki Naruto, right?" He asked for me, seeing that I'm not going to reply.

"Yeah." I couldn't think of anything else but of getting me and Kiba out of there. "I'm sorry for the misinterpretation… but me and Kiba are late for class."

"Are you?" He looked back at Kiba. "Why are you late, then?"

"We were busy…"

"Doing homework-" Kiba cut in, but surely even I won't believe that Kiba was doing homework in his free time. "--Making out." I blurted.

"You wish-" The Inuzuka snorted, but I hugged his hand.

"Oh, stop hiding it!" I rubbed my nose at his neck and it sent a shiver down his spine.

Neji looked genuinely impressed.

"Surely you won't discriminate gay people, right Mr. President?"

"Of course, not." He smirked again, and cleared the way by stepping out of the way.

It was Kiba's turn to look impressed.

I nodded to the long-haired teen and dragged Kiba out of his reach. When we passed the girl, I eventually started running.

I felt orgasmic. I didn't even remember the last time I ducked from troubles – because usually my tongue got me into more troubles in the first place.

"I'll tell Sasuke of your concern." I heard him yell after us, and looked back while running.

I blinked, did he read my thoughts or was he talking to his girlfriend?

……………………………

Although Kiba was the one who wanted to skip class, he was the one who insisted that we would get back to class. "Neji knows everything," was his reasoning.

The Anatomy teacher, Asuma, didn't looked impressed by the excuse; 'His leg was stuck and I tried to help him,' but let us in nevertheless.

Before I noticed it was half past two o'clock, and school ended. I stood by the gate, waiting for Kiba. I remembered the stone of which Haku stood by and it made me feel uneasy.

I still stared at it, though, trying to detect some invisible sign of him exactly existing outside my head. "Hi! Waited long?" Kiba surprised me suddenly and I shook my head, grinning. "So? We're going to that place you wanted to ditch to?"

He crumpled his nose in thought and glanced at the red watch on his hand. "It's too late now. They're probably gone by now. I wanted to introduce you to Shikamaru and Chouji. I'm sure you'd like 'em. They're really nice."

We passed long rice fields on the way from school, and I had adored the way they gleamed in the sunset. I could never get bored with it. Konoha was wonderful and though I was here for a short period I felt more belong than I ever did in Tokyo. I felt like myself.

Kiba invited me to his house but I remembered the pile of homework I had for the next day. He shrugged about the homework part. He said it didn't matter to the teachers anyway.

……………………………

It happened on Wednesday.

The day started with loud, clattering thunders and flashy, blinding lightnings. It was dark like hell when I woke up from a loud bang. My window opened, flying in the hard wind.

I felt like there's something wrong, shivered and ran to close it. Storms were not my thing.

Before I could, another lightning stroke from the night sky, and all Konoha was lighted with sudden flare. I stood there, amazed by the sight as the thunder growled in the background.

I closed the window after a while, and crushed on the futon. My cell-phone laid on the Tatami beside the futon. I picked it up, watching the time change from four am and one minute to four am and two minutes.

Wonderful. There's no way I could fall asleep now.

I rummaged through the games I downloaded and found nothing worth of my time. I decided to check the pictures.

The first few were newer ones of flowers and weird trees in Konoha… One of Kiba trying to take a picture of himself. His phone doesn't have a camera, and he miserably failed with mine.

Then there was a picture of dad making muffins for my birthday that had occurred a month ago. Then he made a huge chocolate cake with orange frosting. He had a picture with it, grinning widely at the result. Its taste still lingered in my mouth.

Then there was a picture of my mom and me. I knew it was the only one I had in my phone. It was really old, because she hated taking pictures. You could see the distance between us since she refused to even hug me.

My mom and I were never close. She always had work and was rarely home. She kept her life to herself, and barely asked for mine.

Seeing her once a month to see how we were doing was normal to me. There were often long monthes that I didn't even get to see her. I always somehow suspected that she had a family somewhere else, that we never mattered to her.

Dad was always my parent, but mom only came when something happened to dad; She would agree with him no matter how wrong he would be, and try to make me submit somehow to him. It used to make me angry, but I had my own ways to deal with father. I was always _papa's little boy_. It was undeniable. My mom took a very small part in raising me. I guess she just never knew exactly how to raise me.

I yelped when the window burst open again. I stood up, sighing at the melody of the rain tapping on the window.

I blinked when my eyes caught a light flickering on in the hallway. One of the doors down the hall rattled, announcing that someone is awake.

"… now?" Iruka's voice was quiet, meek. The beginning of the sentence was hidden from my ears.

I heard Kakashi busily opening another door. He was closer to my room now; probably he entered the blue room to take something. "I'll be back in time for breakfast." It was a firm promise, since the uncertainty in Iruka's voice gave away his fear and worry.

"I'm going with you." Iruka decided now, and there were a few steps and then other steps in another direction. "No. Stay here."

"_You know I can_-" Iruka's voice was threatening now, yet Kakashi still cut in; "Iruka." He silenced him. "We have something we need to protect now." Though he spoke quickly, his voice was low which made it sound somewhat warm and kind. Iruka made no retort, and I knew by an instinct that he was looking down.

"What if something happens to the house? To the kid?"

I scoffed at the word 'kid'.

There was silence. And wondered what were they doing, and what was wrong. I wanted to open the door and find out. There were a few murmurs and I could make out exactly what either one said.

"I can't risk _you_. You're staying here." Kakashi's loud words were final and then I heard him go down the stairs.

"Take the coat." Iruka instructed, though his voice wasn't even trying to command. It made my skin crawl. Iruka actually sounded saddened. I heard the entrance door close and couldn't help but peeking my head out.

"Who's he calling _kid_?" I made a face at Iruka. He turned to me, a bit surprised.

His hair was down and it made him look homey. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He smiled gently at me. It made me even more worried.

"Where is he going?"

"Something occurred." Was uncle's quick reply and he looked away from me. "We should go to sleep. It's still too early…"

"Hmm…" I nodded, he walked rather slowly to his room, but before he could enter I asked; "What are you hiding from me?"

He looked back at me, and didn't seem to understand what I've said. "What makes you think we're hiding something?"

"I'm not stupid, Uncle."

"Naru, of course you're-"

"Then tell me _what occurred_."

He looked down; focusing on what should he say. "Kakashi was summoned." He said quietly.

"Where?"

Iruka once again was at loss. He seemed strained to talk with me about it.

"To the army?" I urged.

"There are things in Konoha… that everybody feels… Certain things that pass by each and every one of us." He uttered suddenly, and I couldn't understand what exactly he was saying, yet I didn't stop him from speaking. "We decide if we answer it or not. You too… you've probably awoke feeling slightly disturbed."

"Yes, but…"

"That's… just like calling. living here – is just like being a part of the city."

I looked confused, but he smiled and pushed me in my room. "Come on, I'll tuck you in."

"Don't treat me like a baby!" I huffed, trying to look insulted.

……………………………

I wasn't able to fall asleep even though Iruka reassured me everything will be fine. My mind was busy with other things. Dad was coming to visit tomorrow and I was excited about it for some reason.

I wanted to show him my room, and tell him I'm feeling better. I came here really angry at him for sending me away, but right now I'm quite thankful for the fact that I let mom persuade me.

I heard Kakashi come back somewhere near seven. Iruka ran to see if he was safe and sound, almost like a kid to a mother.

I got up somewhere near eight, and wore my uniform.

The sky brightened up, yet it was still dark and rainy. I stood for a minute or two adorning the view of the rainy morning before going down.

Both uncles were sitting with a mug of coffee, looking like hell just broke loose and there was nothing they could do about it. Kakashi was reading some book and Iruka was watching the ceiling while leaning on his hand.

"Good Morning…" I trailed off when they didn't even notice I'm up. I poured me some tea and started looking for some breakfast, but there was none. Odd, Iruka always made Breakfast.

"Uh…" I rubbed my head, heading for the refrigerator. "What's for breakfast?"

"Oh! Wait, I'll do you a quick sandwich!" Iruka hopped on his legs and rushed past me. I blinked, and turned to Kakashi who only sighed deeply, and sipped from his coffee.

"Something's wrong?"

"Nope. Everything's fine. Mayonnaise or ketchup?" Iruka busily rummaged through the ingredients.

"Ketchup."

I still hoped that everything will go terribly ordinary when I'll come to school.

……………………………

The school turned into a ghost town.

There were five people sitting in the homeroom when I arrived after looking on the notice board. Apparently three of my teachers were absent. I wondered if it was because of the storm.

When Kakashi arrived, scratching the back of his head like he really didn't know what to do with us, the amount of students stood on seven.

He escaped saying he had a very important business to do. So I stayed put, not really knowing where to go on a free lesson. I really wished Kiba was here.

"Umm…" I looked up from my thoughts. Hinata, the girl from my class, shyly put a few dark strands of her silky hair behind her ear.

Her friend, a long haired blonde sighed and crossed her arms on her chest, rolling her eyes. I wanted to frown at the rude blond bitch, but judged against it as Hinata continued talking. "N-Naruto… right-t?" Her voice was incredibly meek and made me somewhat enthralled by her attitude towards me.

"Yeah. And you're Hinata, right?" She blushed hard at my words and started looking sideways, confused and scared.

No body talked to me besides Kiba in this school, which made me feel a bit like an outcast, though it was just the same in Tokyo, after Haku's death. The only other people who actually dared to share a few words with me were the teachers and that council's president… Hyuuga.

Suddenly I noticed how alike Neji and Hinata looked; they both had the same unbelievingly silky hair, although Hinata's was shorter than Neji's. It was right past her shoulders, while Neji's reached his abdomen, yet it seemed almost flawless black; like a waterfall.

"Um… I…" She started but trailed off, once again putting a few stray strands behind her ear.

I blinked trying to figure out what is it that she wants. "K-Kiba said… that-t he won't arrive today!" She quickly said, bowing her head. "And… that he hopes you won't worry." She added a bit slower and sighed before retreating back to her friend.

I didn't really know how to react. "Thanks!" I called after her, grinning. She turned around, a bit surprised.

It took her a few second, but my smile softened her blush, and she smiled back cutely, nodding her head, and running to her friend. Her eyes glowed and I knew she had to be somehow related to Neji. The gray strokes that colored her eyes were blindly beautiful. They seemed to read me through my gaze, with such an ease. I wondered if they were twins… they're similarities were so obvious I wondered how I hadn't noticed it at first. The blond gave me a glare, and I scowled back at her, before the two of them exited the classroom.

Hmm… I wonder how Kiba knows her… So thoughtful of him to send someone to tell me… I smirked imagining him being worried about the fact that I was alone at class. It also made me feel a bit tingly in my stomach. Thinking about Kiba like that was weird. I wondered if the thoughts made me sick or happy and couldn't really decide.

……………………………

My classes ended really early since most of the teachers were absent. Kakashi volunteered to take me home, and insisted on it even though I said I only needed an umbrella. I didn't know the way by heart, but I learned some milestones as to where to turn and where to continue.

It was only a couples hours ago, and I knew that Kakashi would be late… but not _this_ much. He needed to pick me up nearly an hour ago. Maybe he forgot. I sighed. Even the classmates that didn't have a free lesson or were in other groups had already hurried home. It was still pouring like from a bucket.

The silence in the entrance hall made me feel awkward. I hated the silence because it reminded me of bad things. I looked around before I stood up from the small bench and slid my head from underneath the entrance's roof. My head got immediately wet. I knew Iruka will scold me forever, but it was starting to scare me to stay here all alone. Suddenly some water rolled from the entrance towards me, like a little wave created them. I took a few steps back, trying to avoid the wetness, yet it continued flowing towards me like a little tsunami.

The sound of the trickling rain got stronger until I winced at the pain in my ears and covered them.

"_Murderer_…?"

My eyes widened at the voice. It was calm and steady. I didn't know where it came from; behind me or before me or in my sides; almost as if it came from inside my head.

"_Why would you think that…? We were brothers. Best friends._" I was panicked by the fact that I _**wasn't **_yet _in panic_. By now, I should have been already sweating and shaking. That's how every seizure started. Stress disorder usually involved hallucinations, but if there's no actual seizure, then what am I seeing?

The cold water invaded my sneakers and drenched my socks, but I didn't move.

He appeared before me, his eyes not black but normal brown, sad brown. Haku was looking at me so affectingly I felt my heart breaking. He was my friend, and more than anything I wanted to hug him.

"What do you want from me?" I bowed my head in defeat. "Why did it turn out like this…?" I wanted to cry and beg for forgiveness.

He stood in the rain, but seemed like he wasn't wet one bit. He reached out his hand towards me; "_Naruto… you're not at fault…_"

I looked up to meet his gaze and he smiled at me. "I died because I wanted-"

"_But I_—"

His hand was so cold on my cheek I shivered. He watched my reaction, yet didn't moved away and cupped my face, bringing us closer.

"_Our time is limited_." He paused briefly before continuing; "You have to _meet_ _him_."

"Are you real, Haku…? Why do you keep hunting me?"

He didn't seem to hear me. It was like he was there, blinking like a TV screen in front of me. "Your destiny… there's a storm coming your way, Naruto. You will have to fight. But now, you have to see him."

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"You can't die, no matter what. Win _this_."

"Die? Haku-"

His eyes turned black. I suddenly understood that it wasn't Haku anymore – the thing smiled, cocking his head at me and I immediately lost my breath. I gasped for air in huge gulps, as it approached me. I took a few steps back, and collide with something, I barely cared what it was, I was ready to fall on the floor, and try crawling away from suffocation, but somebody caught my wrist and the air came back into my lungs.

I inhaled the sweet oxygen, closing my eyes from relaxation.

"Are you alright?"

I opened my eyes, to see Hyuuga Neji staring at me. He smiled quite fondly, balancing me on feet. I nodded, my hand clenched on my throat.

"You sure…?" his eyes scanned mine, piercing my whole being.

"Yeah… I just-" I looked back at the entrance, relieved to see only rain outside.

"Kakashi isn't going to come…" He uttered suddenly, and I snapped my head at him; "Why?"

"He has urgent business to attend. He asked someone to tell you."

"Nobody told me anything," I frowned; still trying to calm my racing heart. "Thanks for telling me, anyway…" I looked down, figuring out I'll just have to walk home after all. I waved and spun to the entrance, reading to leave.

"Naruto…" he stopped me by putting a hand on my shoulder. "Who was that?"

"What?" dread came onto me like a cold shower. Was Haku real? I really haven't imagined it!

"Suffocation demon…" He looked back at the entrance.

There was a sudden blast, and a wave of dust and rain flew into the room. Neji put a hand to cover his face but I wasn't as swift and inhaled some of it. I coughed terribly, feeling mud inside my nose and my throat.

Neji covered my mouth almost immediately as he heard my coughing. He put a hand on my back and started walking, leading me out. His pace quickened after a moment, and I found myself starting to run.

"Faster," He urged.

I felt confused and started to believe it was a dream. First Haku, now this?! This can't be happening! A bomb ticked off inside the yard of the school?! What the hell? World War III started without me knowing?

We finally went out of the smoke. It was raining on my head real hard and my throat was dry. I tasted dirt inside my mouth.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled, coughing a few times while staring at him. He was covered in some kind of brown soot, and I knew that I was too.

"Stay quiet. I'll take you home… Now, move it."

"What the hell is happening?! Huh?!" I followed him, refusing with all my might being silent.

That's when it happened. The moment when my life changed.

I was about to open my mouth, and start cursing and swearing that I'm going back to Tokyo, when I saw a black blur tackle the raven, and throw him at some stone.

Shocked, I stared.

Neji spat blood on the grass beneath him. He glared ahead of me, but I didn't care what was there, I ran to him, waving my hands like some girl. "Oh my god! Jesus! Don't move! Oh god! Is there even a hospital in this shit faced place! Holy fuck-"

"Shut up." Neji stood up with no difficulty what so ever, as if he wasn't thrown on a stone. I swallowed, watching him cracking his head, as if straightening his bones.

This must be a dream. It can't be. What the hell is this freak show? Where the hell am I? AIs he even human-

"Listen to me now." His gaze was strict and his tone was authoritative; the kind you use on little kids that done something wrong. "You see that forest?" he pointed to the grove behind him. I nodded, my breath hitching at all the adrenalin. "Run. Run like hell."

"But! You- You're going to die if we-"

"I'm perfectly fine. Now go!" he once again fixed his glare behind me. I turned around and saw a few dark figures standing in the dust cloud we came from. The dust was going down slowly, yet I couldn't figure out their faces.

I spun, and started to run, glancing back at Neji, who dived into the dust cloud after a few feet. I felt like a coward, but I was so scared I wanted to piss my pants.

……………………………

Inside the forest I started hearing things. Shouts, clank of swords, screams filled of agony and roars; some were womanly voices, other were definitely male and some were beast-like. I closed my ears as I ran, and hummed a song I remembered.

I just wanted to wake up, already.

This can't be happening.

At some point, I paused and wondered if I should go back to Neji. He might get slaughtered. If I'll be back tomorrow, and he'll be dead – I'll probably commit a suicide.

I closed my eyes, trying not to cry. I wanted to get it all out and just make it all stop.

I was out of breath long ago, but couldn't stop running. Neji said to run. I can run. I can run _like hell_.

I passed through clearings, swampy-grounds and even a few thickets. I didn't stop no matter what. But on this clearing, I found myself stopping. There was a small, blue fence near two lone trees that seemed intertwined. I wondered what it meant. It reminded me a lot of Sasuke's clearing.

I was sweaty and hungry. The sky was getting darker. Mud and soot were my new clothes. And the familiarity of Sasuke's name… and the thoughts about it made my body relax, as though I didn't knew it was tense.

A shiver ran down my spine; I wanted to continue to run, when the rain changed into huge hail storm. I yelped, and run into the shadow of the trees, but before I could, I tripped on something.

My hands detached themselves from my ears, and I heard louder screams, so much closer to me. I panicked, but before I could get up, I noticed I tripped on a small gravestone. Beside it was an even smaller one.

Dirt and dry leaves covered it, so I simply wiped them off.

My mother's name was engraved into the gray stone.

'_Kushina Uzumaki_.'

'_A loving wife, mother and friend_.'

I wiped the second gravestone almost automatically, feeling the lack of oxygen in my brain as I stopped breathing.

'_A dear son… will be remembered in our hearts forever…_'

'_Uzumaki Naruto_.'

_Apparently_, I was dead.

* * *

**Author rambling**: Don't get shocked and stay tuned. This chapter was rather... easy to write. I love Neji, and love Kiba even more. Neji's character is not as difficult as Sasuke's. His character does not change nor get different views on the world. While Kiba is huffy and puffy and gets teased a lot. :D I like this combination a lot. About the last part, if some of you were expecting Naruto to grow some balls and go fight with Neji, lean back on your chair and think for a few moments what if this happened to you. Taking this from my point of view - suddenly finding out so many things at once, and getting through the first shock; of course that it will scare the hell out of you. I just pictured a typical reaction and wrote it down.

Did you like the chapter? Disliked it?

Was it boring? Are you going to come back for more?

**Please review** and tell me what you think!


End file.
